Galapagos Islands - Tours and Cruises

“What applies to one animal will apply throughout time to all animals - that is if they vary - for otherwise natural selection can do nothing”

Charles Darwin,
On the origin of Species

There are many places in the world that people go back but there is only one that its call enchanted.

The Galapagos Islands are volcanic in origin located in the pacific ocean, a 1000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador’s mainland ( 620 miles). Biologically diverse, they are one of the planet’s natural paradises and one of the most visited national parks in the world.

The archipelago is formed by 19 large islands and 200 small islands and rocks totaling approximately 8,010 square Km, dispersed throughout an area of 70,000 square Km.

From a total land area of 788,200 hectares, 96.7% (that is 761,844 hectares) are National Park and Natural Heritage for Humanity; the rest, 3.3% (26,356 hectares) are a colonized zone with urban and farm areas.

The UNESCO declared Galapagos as a World Natural Heritage Site in 1978 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1985.

This two world recognition and the phenomenal variety of species is what make Galapagos so unique.

Climate, marine currents and geographical isolation have produced a high degree of biological diversity and endemism. More than 2900 marine species have been reported, out of which 18.2% are endemic. Average per biotic group is richer, up to 25% of the total.

Fauna of the Galapagos have ancestors on the mainland, the species have evolved in isolation for more than 4 million years, making the islands a paradise for unique species found nowhere else on Earth. These include 11 different giant tortoise species (each species residing on a different island), 13 species of finches that evolved on needs of diet like the vampire finch which evolved to include blood in their diets, Galapagos sea-lion, Galapagos penguin, Galapagos hawk, Galapagos dove , land iguana, marine iguana, and flightless cormorant.

The marine reserve, considered one of the most biologically rich areas in the Pacific, lodges hammerhead sharks, dolphins, sea turtles and whales, as well as invertebrate species such as sea cucumbers, lobsters, and the sea hedgehog.

Pirates founded as a place to rest but Darwin discover as a place to understand the evolution of species….

A recommended reading:
Galapagos Geology